


Names

by HK44



Series: Brokes, Pennsylvania [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Canon Non-Binary Character, Ficlet, Names, Original Character(s), Short, Transitioning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-10-31 23:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10909236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HK44/pseuds/HK44
Summary: Kali frowned. “Alex Laserbeam Walrus Johnson.” She pursued her lips. “I do not like it. Do not do that, Ēlēksa.”





	Names

**Author's Note:**

> Wanted to write a little something of Alex during the transition of his name from Scott to Alex and then wound up forgetting to post it here.

“So if your new name is Alex because it is unisex, what is your middle name going to be?”

“Laserbeam!”Jackson yelled from the living room. He shouted out in anguish and Nick’s voice chorused over top, “Walrus!”

Kali frowned. “Alex Laserbeam Walrus Johnson.” She pursued her lips. “I do not like it. Do not do that, Ēlēksa.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s Scott.”

She frowned further, wedging a large scoop of ice cream onto her spoon. “I thought you had decided on Alex.”

“My middle name,” I explained. I jammed my spoon into the tub and scowled when the metal bent backwards. “I’m gonna change it to Scott.”

“But-”

“It’s my name,” I said. “It’s not like I don’t like it and I don’t _not_  want it to be mine-”

“That is a double negative.”

I ignored her and wrenched my spoon out of the ice cream. Bits of rocky road splattered against my face. “I like the name Scott, Kali. It’s _mine_. But it doesn’t-” I frowned for a moment, trying to find the words as I ate my ice cream. “- _sfwit_.” I swallowed and shuddered. Cold spiked up my spine to my brain. “ _Agh_.”

“Do not eat it all at once,” she snapped, swatting my hand. “I do not understand either. The point of changing your name is to abolish who you were believed to be, yes?”

I rubbed my forehead. “Uh? For some people, I guess?” The cold deepened and I winced, going silent until it passed. “For some people, it’s about being new, being separate. For me, it’s… not.” I licked my lips. The words were there. I just didn’t know how to string them together. “It’s like. I’m not solely a boy anymore. I never was. But I don’t feel the need to… string together a new name to represent what I’ve been this whole time.”

I tapped my chin with my spoon. “I like Scott. It was the first name I ever had and it was mine and I liked it. But it doesn’t _fit_  me anymore because it’s not-” I gestured vaguely. “- _me_. But-” I bit my lip. “But it was my name and just because it doesn’t fit who _I_  am currently doesn’t mean I don’t love it anymore. And I want to keep it.”

Kali eyed me for a moment. Silence washed between us while my feelings, as haphazardously worded as they were, sunk into some kind of understanding. Then she brandished her hands under her chin. “It represents a part of you that you still feel connected to.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Basically.”

She smiled. “Alex Scott Johnson.” She shoved her spoon back into the tub of ice cream. “I like it.”

I grinned. “Me too.”


End file.
